FIG. 1 is an example of a prior art airborne optical turret configuration 100 extending from a fuselage 102 of an aircraft 104. The optical turret may be configured to transmit optical signals, receive optical signals or detect electromagnetic energy in the optical spectrum, or both transmit and receive optical signals and detect optical energy. In the exemplary configuration of FIG. 1, an outer, or ‘azimuth’ (AZ) axis of the turret 100 is represent by broken line 106 perpendicular to a direction of flight of the aircraft. FIG. 2 is an example of another prior art optical turret configuration 200 installed on a nose of a pod 202. In this implementation a singularity or “gimbal lock” condition results when a line of sight (LOS) 204 of an optical aperture 206 of the hosted optical system (not shown in FIG. 2) housed within an interior of the optical turret 200 is pointed in the direction of flight as illustrated by arrow 208. If the turret 200 is articulated about an inner, or ‘elevation’ (EL) axis 210 such that the line of sight (LOS) 204 is parallel to the azimuth or AZ axis 212, there exists an infinite number of AZ axis 212 positions of the turret 200 that result in the same LOS 204 orientation. The result is a mathematical singularity in the derivation of the servo control laws. As the LOS 204 approaches the singularity position, corresponding to the AZ axis 212, the gimbal control servos (not shown in FIG. 2) housed within the turret 200 which control movement of the LOS 204 begin to exhibit instability. This singularity may be avoided by orientation of the AZ axis 212 perpendicular to the aircraft flight direction 208 similar to the turret configuration 100 in FIG. 1. However, packaging of this axis orientation in the nose of an aircraft pod, such as pod 200, severely limits the achievable aperture size, as a percentage of the host pod diameter, which restricts the collection area for detection of optical or light energy and imaging.